Minnesota Vikings fall 42-20 to Saints

December 20, 2011

By

DAVE CAMPBELL, Associated Press

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) â€” The Minnesota Vikings faced a quarterback they simply couldnâ€™t stop. Christian Ponder saw a future role model.
Drew Brees threw for 412 yards in a little more than three quarters for New Orleans and got his fifth touchdown pass before Ponderâ€™s fifth completion, leading the surging Saints to their sixth straight victory, 42-20 over the Vikings on Sunday.
The ever-cool Brees completed 32 of 40 passes to help the Saints (11-3) overcome two first-half turnovers and stay two games ahead of the Atlanta Falcons in the NFC South. Ponder was 4 for 13 for 18 yards with 12Â˝ minutes remaining in the game until padding his statistics with the game long out of reach.
But the rookie, despite looking as rattled as he has all season, said his confidence wasnâ€™t shaken.
â€śYou live for the ups, obviously. You learn from the downs, and thatâ€™s what Iâ€™m trying to do,â€ť Ponder said. â€śI know here in the future weâ€™re going to have a lot more ups than downs.â€ť
Brees set an NFL season record with his 11th game of 300-plus yards passing against a struggling secondary that was further depleted with the loss of starting cornerback Asher Allen to a concussion.
â€śFor me itâ€™s motivation,â€ť Ponder said. â€śI always want to be the best guy on the field, and obviously Drew is a heck of a quarterback and one of the better quarterbacks in the league, and I want to be better than him one day. I use that as motivation to get better and prove that one day Iâ€™ll be in his spot, winning a lot of games and going to the playoffs.â€ť
The Saints allowed the third-most yards passing in the league coming into the game, but they flustered Ponder and the Vikings all afternoon. He had little time to throw, taking four sacks, and his receivers couldnâ€™t get any separation. Ponder finished 14 for 31 for 120 yards and two touchdown passes to Toby Gerhart, plus an interception. But even with Adrian Peterson back in the lineup after missing three games to a sprained left ankle, the Vikings (2-12) were as impotent on offense as theyâ€™ve been all season. Given two early gifts when the Saints lost fumbles in their own territory, they managed only two field goals.
â€śI donâ€™t think I did a good job of getting my guys prepared for what they were going to face today,â€ť coach Leslie Frazier said.
Frazier hesitated to express disappointment in Ponderâ€™s performance, insisting he consider the final two games before gauging whether this was a regression for the first-round draft pick who started strong when he took over for Donovan McNabb eight games ago.
â€śI still think in this case you have to be able to look at the long view,â€ť Frazier said. â€śToday was a tough day, no questions about it, but there were some other factors involved that created a long day for him as well as our team and offense.â€ť
Peterson rushed for 60 yards on 10 carries.
â€śI donâ€™t know how to explain 10 carries. I was ready to roll. I just do my job,â€ť Peterson said. â€śWhen Iâ€™m called upon, I just try to go out there and execute. We got behind so we kind of had to turn more into a passing team. That didnâ€™t work either.â€ť
He also said he was displeased by the teamâ€™s effort.
â€śA lot of missed tackles defensively, a lot of missed opportunities offensively,â€ť Peterson said.
With Cedric Griffin benched, and Chris Cook and Antoine Winfield already out, Benny Sapp, Marcus Sherels and Brandon Burton were left to cover the Saints wide array of talented receivers. And even when they had tight coverage on the outside, the Vikings couldnâ€™t get any pressure on Brees, who simply stepped up in the pocket while his tackles pushed Jared Allen and Brian Robison up the field.
Brees completed seven passes to tight end Jimmy Graham and five to running back Darren Sproles, several of them simple but well-timed screen passes that gained big chunks of yards.
â€śGuys have to play with no fear, including myself,â€ť Sapp said. â€śWeâ€™ve got to go out there and make plays.â€ť
The defensive backs werenâ€™t the only ones who werenâ€™t doing that.
â€śItâ€™s frustrating, itâ€™s embarrassing and itâ€™s a terrible feeling,â€ť Allen said. â€śI know other guys feel the same way.â€ť